[Southsider2k12]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...wY_wvAD9DSS13G0

Bayh exits Senate against backdrop of angry voters

By ALAN FRAM (AP) – 38 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — Monday's stunning announcement by Sen. Evan Bayh that he's retiring from a Congress he says he no longer loves makes him the latest to flee Washington as many voters seem furious about the country's economic malaise and poised to take it out on incumbents.

The decision by the Indiana Democrat, who was in strong position to win a third term in November, gives Republicans a formidable chance to capture the seat in his GOP-leaning state. It also compounds the problems facing Senate Democrats this fall as they cling to their majority in the chamber, where they now hold 59 of the 100 votes.

Bayh joins a growing roster of recent Democratic retirements that includes Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island and Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. Yet the congressional casualty list has a decidedly bipartisan flavor, with recent retirement announcements coming from Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and other GOP House members from Michigan, Indiana, Arkansas and Arizona.

"Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, you've probably had some very nasty town hall meetings lately, and most normal human beings don't enjoy being yelled at," said Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont-McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. "Democrats stand to lose more than Republicans because they're the in party, but Republicans are catching some of this too."

Democrats have a 255-178 edge in the House, with two vacancies from Democratic-held seats. But there are 49 Democrats from districts Republican presidential candidate John McCain won in 2008, placing them among the most endangered House Democrats.

With the public upset over job losses, spiraling federal deficits and spending, huge bonuses awarded to executives of bailed-out financial institutions, and Washington's yearlong preoccupation with health care, one need look no further than recent polls to gauge the poisonous political atmosphere facing members of Congress seeking re-election:

_In an Associated Press-GfK poll in mid-January, just 32 percent approved of how Congress was handling its job, including just 4 percent strongly approving, though Democrats got higher marks than Republicans. People were split about evenly over whether they wanted their own members of Congress to be re-elected, an unusually poor showing. And while nearly everyone named the economy as the most important issue, just one in five considered the economy in good shape.

_A CBS News/New York Times poll in early February found 81 percent saying it's time to elect new people to Congress, with just 8 percent saying most members deserve re-election.

The departure of Bayh, 54, sent deeper shock waves than most. Telegenic and on the list of potential running mates for the past two Democratic national tickets, Bayh is known more for the moderate tone of his politics than for any particular legislative achievements, and his parting words had a notably plaintive tenor.

"To put it in words most Hoosiers can understand: I love working for the people of Indiana, I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives, but I do not love Congress," Bayh said in the statement he read in Indianapolis announcing his decision.

He also lambasted the acid divide between Democrats and Republicans in Washington, saying, "I am not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology." He added that he wanted to work in the private sector, perhaps running a business, university or charity, for "solutions not slogans, progress not politics."

Republicans saw a more partisan motivation in Bayh's departure.

"The fact of the matter is Senator Evan Bayh and moderate Democrats across the country are running for the hills because they sold out their constituents and don't want to face them at the ballot box," Michael Steele, chairman of the national Republican Party, said in a written statement regarding the $787 billion stimulus bill enacted a year ago and other measures.

GOP pollster Neil Newhouse saw Bayh's decision through the prism of the GOP's startling capture of the Senate seat in deep-blue Massachusetts that had been held by the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.

"Don't kid yourself. Scott Brown claims another victim," Newhouse said of Massachusetts' new GOP senator. "It's mostly Democrats seeing the handwriting on the wall."

The toll taken by grinding political conflict and gridlock that Bayh described rang true to Dave Nagle, a Democratic political activist and former congressman from Iowa.

"It's not like going to work every day, it's like going to war," Nagle said in an interview. "You can only hear the bugle on the Hill so many times, then you grow tired of it. It just isn't worth it."

Nagle also cited the problems President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are having persuading voters that the stimulus plan is helping revive the economy and create jobs.

"It's not something tangible they can touch. It's not reaching peoples' lives," Nagle said.

Associated Press writers Ken Kusmer and Tom Davies in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Southsider2k12]

Interesting to see that Bayh sees himself as an executive... Is he kicking off his 2012 or 2016 campaign already?

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/02/se...un_again_c.html

SEN. BAYH: (Applause.) Thank you very much. And thank you all for joining us today. I know how busy you are, and I'm very grateful to you for taking the time to be with us.

I'd like to begin by acknowledging some people to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude. First, my wife Susan, who for 25 years has stood by my side, and without whose love and support, so much I've been privileged to accomplish would never have been possible. As my father told me on the day we were married, "Son, you definitely married up." (Applause.)

(To Susan Bayh) I love you, sweetheart.

Second, my wonderful boys, Beau and Nick, who I love so much and of whom I am so proud. Being their father is the most important job I will ever have.

Next, my staff members, many of whom are assembled in the room here today, both past and present, who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much for the people of our state. There is not one that couldn't have made more money or worked fewer hours doing something else. They have also managed to make me look much better than I deserve.

Most importantly, I am grateful to the people of Indiana, who for almost a quarter-century have placed their trust and welfare in my hands. No one could ask for a better boss or a greater honor.

I was raised in a family that believes that public service is the highest calling in the church; that what matters is not what you take from life but what you give back. I believe that still.

For almost all of my adult life, I've been privileged to serve the people of Indiana in elective office. As secretary of state, I worked to reform our election laws to ensure that every vote counts. I cast the deciding vote in the closest congressional race in the nation, for a member of the other political party, because I believed that he had legitimately won the election.

As governor, I worked with an outstanding team to balance the budget, cut taxes, leave the largest surplus in state history, create the most new jobs during any eight-year period, increase funding for schools every year, make college more affordable, and reform welfare to emphasize work.

We raised water-quality standards, created more new state parks than at any time since the 1930s and raised the penalties for violent crime.

In the Senate, I have continued to fight for the best interests of our state. I've worked with Hoosier workers and businesses large and small -- in the defense sector, the life sciences, the medical device industry, autos, steel, recreational vehicle manufacturing and many, many more -- to save and create new jobs.

Since 9/11, I've fought to make our nation safe, with a national- security policy that is both tough and smart. I've championed the cause of our soldiers, to make sure they have the equipment they need in battle and the health care they deserve when they return home.

I have often been a lonely voice for balancing the budget and restraining spending. I've worked with Democrats, Republicans and independents alike, to do the nation's business in a way that is civil and constructive.

I'm fortunate to have good friends on both sides of the aisle, something that's much too rare in Washington today. After all of these years, my passion for service to our fellow citizens is undiminished. But my desire to do so by serving in Congress has waned.

For some time, I've had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should. There is much too much partisanship and not enough progress, too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving. Even at a time of enormous national challenge, the people's business is not getting done. Examples of this are legion but two recent ones will suffice.

Two weeks ago, the Senate voted down a bipartisan commission to deal with one of the greatest threats facing our nation: our exploding deficits and debt. The measure would have passed. But seven members who endorsed the idea, actually co-sponsored the legislation, instead voted no for short-term political reasons.

Just last week, a major piece of legislation to create new jobs -- our nation's top priority today -- fell apart amidst complaints from both the left and the right.

All of this and much more has led me to believe that there are better ways to serve my fellow citizens, my beloved state and our nation than continued service in Congress. To put it into words I think most people can understand, I love working for the people of Indiana.

I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives. But I do not love Congress.

I will not, therefore, be a candidate for reelection to the United States Senate this November. My decision should not be interpreted for more than it is: a very difficult, deeply personal one. I am an executive at heart. I value my independence. I am not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology. These traits may be useful in many walks of life, but unfortunately they are not highly valued in Congress.

My decision should not reflect adversely upon my colleagues, who continue to serve in the Senate. While the institution is in need of significant reform, there are many wonderful people there. The public would be surprised and pleased to know that those who serve them in the Senate, despite their policy and political differences, are unfailingly hardworking and devoted to the public good as they see it. I will miss them.

I particularly value my relationship with Senator Dick Lugar, and have often felt that if all senators could have the cooperative relationship we enjoy, the institution would be a better place.

My decision should not reflect adversely upon our president. I look forward to working with him during the next 11 months to get our deficit under control, get the economy moving once again, regulate Wall Street to avoid future political crises and reform education so that all of our children can fulfill their God-given potential. This is the right agenda for America.

My decision was not motivated by political concern. Even in the current challenging political environment, I am confident in my prospects for reelection. Five times over the last 24 years, I have been honored by the people of Indiana with electoral success. But running for the sake of winning an election, just to remain in public office, is not good enough, and it has never been what has motivated me.

At this time, I simply believe that I can best contribute to society in another way: creating jobs by helping to grow a business, helping guide an institution of higher learning to educate our children, or helping run a worthy charitable or philanthropic endeavor.

In closing, let me say this. Words cannot convey, nor can I adequately express, my gratitude to the great people of Indiana.

I will never forget those I have been privileged to serve, and those who have so kindly supported me. I've always tried to remember that my job is to work for Hoosiers, not the other way around. I am constantly reminded that if Washington, D.C., could be more like Indiana, Washington would be a better place.

Lastly, let me reiterate my deep and abiding love for our country and my optimism for our future. These are difficult times for America, it is true. But we have seen difficult days before, and we will see better days to come. With all of our faults, we are an exceptional nation.

I look forward to continuing to do my part to meet the challenges we face as a private citizen, to work for solutions, not slogans, progress, not politics, so that our generation can do what Americans have always done: convey to our children an America that is stronger, more prosperous, more decent and more just.

Thank you all again. May God bless you all. (Applause.)

END.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...f6540452298.txt

Bye bye, Bayh?

AJ Mast/AP Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., kisses his wife, Susan, while flanked by his sons Nick (left) and Beau at a news conference announcing he will not seek re-election on Monday in Indianapolis.
Local leaders react to U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh’s Monday retirement announcement
By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Monday, February 15, 2010 10:51 PM CST
MICHIGAN CITY — Sen. Evan Bayh was “fed up” with Washington politics, local Democratic leaders said Monday, and was frustrated because it seemed no one wanted to cooperate on important issues. But it was still shocking that Bayh announced he would not run for a third term so close to the end of candidate filing, said Dr. Vidya Kora, La Porte County Democratic chairman from 2001 to 2009.

“His absence will definitely be felt by the people of Indiana and the rest of the country,” Kora said. “Bayh has excellent knowledge of foreign affairs and intelligence. He’s an advocate of a balanced budget and reducing the national debt. We need to focus on keeping competent politicians like him in office.”

La Porte County Democratic Chairman John Jones said he was also surprised to hear of Bayh’s “disdain” for Capital Hill, particularly because his popularity would have almost guaranteed his re-election.

“It will be hard to find someone with his charisma and ability to get things done,” Jones said.

But the point, Kora said, is that Bayh doesn’t feel like he’s been able to accomplish much at all. Kora said he learned of Bayh’s frustration with the Senate firsthand during a recent conversation, in which Bayh told him that he became a politician to affect positive change.

“He enjoyed being governor of Indiana because he got to solve problems, he got to see the results of his policies working,” Kora said. “Now he’s just one of 100 votes, and no one is working together.”

While Bayh’s retirement could reduce the Senate’s Democratic majority, Kora said the divisive political climate has affected both parties — and the country — for the worse.

“Politicians need to think about what it is people are sending them there for. Instead of making political points, you need to solve people’s problems. The inability to do that is not good for the democratic process,” Kora said.

Jones said he has not heard from the state Democratic Party about what to do yet in the way of rallying support for another Democratic candidate, or even who that might be.

“I don’t think too many people knew this was going to happen. It’s hard not to leak something like this,” Jones said.

But Democrat and local attorney Shaw Friedman doesn’t think there’s any need for alarm.

“We’ve got a pretty deep bench of some talented elected officials like our own Congressman Joe Donnelly, who I happen to think would make an outstanding member of the U.S. Senate. I guess we’ll have to see what develops,” he said.

However, Donnelly (D-Granger) filed last week to run again for his 2nd Congressional District seat. He issued a statement Monday thanking Bayh for his service to the people of Indiana.

“We all owe him a debt of gratitude for the leadership he has offered to our state,” Donnelly said. “His moderate voice in the Senate and throughout Congress will be missed.”

[Southsider2k12]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02...mary-ballot.php

Tamyra d'Ippolito, a cafe owner who has been seeking the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat currently held by Evan Bayh, just told TPMDC that she does have the minimum number of ballot-petition signatures need to get on the ballot for the Democratic primary. If her petitions do in fact work out, that would seriously complicate the efforts by the party to pick a new candidate to replace Bayh, the retiring incumbent Democrat, on the ballot this November.

In order to appear on the primary election ballot for Senate, a candidate in Indiana must obtain 500 petition signatures in each of the state's nine House districts -- and the deadline is today. Yesterday, d'Ippolito said she was about 1,000 short of the overall goal of 4,500. However, she said, in the last day signatures picked up considerably -- and she is prepared to fight any potential efforts by the Democratic Party to have enough signatures invalidated to put her below the quota.

"We have enough signatures and we're ready to go to court. We're ready to fight," said d'Ippolito. "And yes it's politics, and I'm sure there are certain Democrats, I hope they are the minority, I'm sure there are certain Democrats who will try those underhanded activities. I hope they would be wiser not to take that road."

Democrats were apparently expecting that nobody would successfully file for the Senate seat, given the fact that Bayh dropped out a day before the petitions were due. Under Indiana law, the state Democratic Party's central committee has the authority to name a new candidate. If d'Ippolito is indeed able to make the ballot, then the Dems would have to find some other means to get a different candidate -- or else have her as their nominee.

D'Ippolito said the people of Indiana should choose the candidate, not a party committee. "And this is what the machine in Indiana does not want to happen, because they want to choose the candidate, they want to put another Blue Dog in there," she said. "It's a different body than Evan Bayh, same thing, different face, Blue Dog. We don't want any more Blue Dogs. It's bye-bye Bayh, and bye-bye Blue Dogs in the state of Indiana."

I asked d'Ippolito about the possibility that Republicans may have given her a hand. Erick Erickson, for example, personally encouraged his Indiana readers to sign her petitions. "God bless him, because anybody can sign the petition," said d'Ippolitio. "Republican, Democrat, independent, teabag person, any registered voter with a warm pulse can sign."

D'Ippolito was not specifically aware of Republicans who signed her petitions in order to cause problems for the Democrats, but she didn't have a problem with it: "I have no way to know that for sure, but I'm sure that is happening. It's common sense, I think that would be realistic."

Late Update: After telling TPM that she already had the necessary signatures collected, d'Ippolito is now denying to Greg Sargent that she has them yet, saying instead that she would have them in time.

[Southsider2k12]

This keeps getting stranger and stranger...

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/senate-r...-out-to-get-me/

Would-Be Dem Replacement For Bayh: The “Machine” Is Out To Get Me!

In the wake of Evan Bayh’s decision to retire, there’s been a fair amount of hand-wringing among Dems over the possiblity that a little-known cafe-owner, Tamyra d’Ippolito, would collect the signatures necessary to run on the Dem line — making it all but certain that the GOP will pick up the seat.

I just got off the phone with Ms. d’Ippolito, and I can report that it would be pretty bad indeed for Dems if she pulls this off. She alleged in the interview that the “machine” in Indiana is out to get her — and even claimed that the machine had conspired with MSNBC to silence her.

“The machine has asked me to step down,” she said, in a reference to the Indiana Democratic Party. She added that she had been scheduled to be interviewed last night by Rachel Maddow but that, mysteriously, the machine got the interview killed.

“The car was coming,” she recalled. “Fifteen minutes before, I got a call saying, `We’ve cancelled the interview.’”

Ms. d’Ippolito insisted that Indiana Dem party chair Dan Parker, who was also on Maddow yesterday, had gotten the interview nixed. She said she asked MSNBC producers why she wouldn’t be interviewed, and that the reply was: “We can’t tell you.”

“I said, `Okay, whatever,’” she says. “Dan Parker was the only one on the air. Put two and two together.”

That’s not all: There’s also some confusion over whether she’s got the requisite 4,500 signatures to run. She just told TPM’s Eric Kleefeld that she has the signatures.

But she subsequently told me that she doesn’t — yet. “We’ll have 4,500 by the end of today,” she said, adding that she has “no clue” whether she’s crossed that number yet.

Hmm…

[Southsider2k12]

Here is her site, including petitions to have her put on the ballot.

http://www.tamyraforsenate.com/

[Southsider2k12]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/...bid=BF5T3jl-jlS

Upstart Democrat fails to get on ballot in Indiana
Posted: February 16th, 2010 02:22 PM ET

From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby
Senator Evan Bayh announced Monday that he would not seek another term, leaving Democrats without a candidate in Indiana.
Senator Evan Bayh announced Monday that he would not seek another term, leaving Democrats without a candidate in Indiana.

Washington (CNN) – It looks like Democrats have avoided a big headache in Indiana.

Tamyra d'Ippolito, the Bloomington restaurant owner who claimed to be nearing the required amount of signatures to make her the de facto Democratic nominee for Senate in Indiana, appears to have fallen short in her bid to get on the primary ballot.

To get on the ballot, a candidate must have submitted at least 4,500 signatures by noon Tuesday, with at least 500 coming from each of Indiana's nine congressional districts.

But Terry Burns, a Democratic official with the Marion County Board of Voters, said d'Ippolito only submitted three signatures Tuesday to the county clerk's office (The entire seventh district is in Marion County). Burns noted that one of her signatures came from the state's 5th district.

"She fell 498 signatures short in the seventh district," Burns told CNN.

D'Ippolito, who has never run for office before, had been organizing a long-shot challenge to Sen. Evan Bayh before he announced his retirement Monday. Had she submitted the necessary paperwork by Tuesday's deadline, she would have been the only Democrat in the state to do so, making her the party's nominee for Senate. That prospect became something of a nightmare scenario over the last 24 hours for Democrats in Washington and Indiana, who are looking to recruit a top-tier candidate to run in Bayh's place.

Now, state Democratic Party officials have until June 30 to confer and select a nominee. Indiana Reps. Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill are mentioned as possible nominees, along with Evansville mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel.

Meanwhile, Sen. John Corynyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called on Indiana Democrats to extend the filing deadline, which would give potential Democratic candidates time to canvass the state for signatures.

"Doing so would remove any appearance of unfair gamesmanship by the Democrats while affirming their belief that voters, and not party bosses, should be the final arbiters of elections," Cornyn said in a statement released by the NRSC Tuesday.

[Southsider2k12]

http://nwitimes.com/news/local/article_f29..._medium=twitter

INDIANAPOLIS | The only Democrat seeking to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Evan Bayh has missed out on qualifying for Indiana's May primary ballot.

State Democratic chairman Dan Parker says Bloomington cafe owner Tamyra d'Ippolito failed to submit the needed 500 signatures in the 7th congressional district. The Marion County voter registration office reports it received just three signatures for her by Tuesday's deadline.

County clerks in Lake, Porter, Newton and Benton counties reported that they did not receive any signatures on beahlf of d'Ippolito. The only county in the 1st congressional district to receive signatures was Jasper County, where the county clerk's office reported receiving a total of 16.

That means the state Democratic Party's 32-member central committee will choose the party's Senate nominee for the November election.

In Indiana, candidates for U.S. Senate must submit 500 certified signatures in each of the state's nine congressional districts to qualify for the primary ballot.

Parker says the central committee won't call a meeting until there's consensus for the party's eventual choice.

[Southsider2k12]

This is what is on her facebook page now

False information is being put out there and I expected more from you guys than to be sucker punched. Study up on political election law. More signatures are being put in tomorrow. I have told many of you not to quit. That is what they want you to do. Do not give them what they want.

[Upper Penn]

boy did indiana get hosed now that McDermott gets to run unopposed for senate since the filling date has past and the democratic party gets to chose their candidate. what a sweetheart backroom poke in the eye to every resident in indiana.

[Southsider2k12]

boy did indiana get hosed now that McDermott gets to run unopposed for senate since the filling date has past and the democratic party gets to chose their candidate. what a sweetheart backroom poke in the eye to every resident in indiana.

That isn't how it works. At this point since no one could get the number of signatures in at the deadline (seemingly anyway, unless this woman is right), it now becomes an issue for the state democratic committee to decide. They will get together and hold a vote to decide who will be on the ballot. It is similar to what happened with Anita Bowser's seat after she passed away.

McDermott is just declaring that he wants to be considered for the chance to be put on the ballot.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...26185016147.txt

Donnelly not interested in Bayh’s Senate seat

Deborah Sederberg/The News-Dispatch Rep. Joe Donnelly speaks Tuesday at The News-Dispatch.
Jobs still focus for Donnelly
By Deborah Sederberg
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 4:18 AM CST
MICHIGAN CITY — Joe Donnelly seems serious when he says he’s not interested in running for Evan Bayh’s U.S. Senate seat.

Second District Congressman Donnelly, D-Granger, was in The News-Dispatch conference room when the deadline for filing passed Tuesday. He had collected not one of the 4,500 signatures he would need to place his name on the ballot. Nor had he circulated petitions.

“I’m going to keep doing my job,” Donnelly said. His job, he said, is in the House of Representatives.

Bayh said Monday he’s quitting because he no longer likes working in an increasingly partisan Congress.

Donnelly, who prides himself on reaching across the aisle for what he judges to be effective legislation, said, “I’ve been rated one of the most independent members of Congress.”

He said understands Bayh’s frustration. As an example, he pointed to Bayh’s hard work on the jobs bill, which enjoyed bipartisan and White House support. Nonetheless, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, a fellow Democrat, cut Bayh and other Democrats off at the knees when he announced his plans to scrap the legislation.

He’s sorry to be losing Bayh, Donnelly said. He suspects he will feel less comfortable in a capitol without Bayh than he does with him.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said Tuesday he will seek the Democratic nod to replace Bayh on the November ballot. He said it’s time for a fresh face, and he would seek to be chosen by the state Democratic Party to be the one who replaces Bayh on the ballot.

Since no Democrat is on the primary ballot, the Democratic state central committee has until June 30 to make an appointment.

Other names being floated are U.S. Reps. Baron Hill and Brad Ellsworth.

One Democrat seeking to run for the Senate seat missed out on qualifying for Indiana’s May 4 primary ballot.

State Democratic Chairman Dan Parker said Bloomington cafe owner Tamyra d’Ippolito failed to submit the needed 500 signatures in the 7th Congressional District in Marion County. The voter registration office there reported it received just three signatures for her by Tuesday’s deadline.

In Indiana, candidates for U.S. Senate must submit 500 certified signatures in each of the state’s nine congressional districts to qualify for the primary ballot.

Parker says the central committee won’t call a meeting until there’s consensus for the party’s eventual choice.

Would Donnelly be interested in the Senate if party leaders should offer to slate him?

“No, my interest is here. I have a job,” he said.

q

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

By Deborah Sederberg

Staff Writer

MICHIGAN CITY — His priorities in the 2010 campaign haven’t changed since the 2008 election, Second District Congressman Joe Donnelly, D-Granger, said Tuesday: “jobs, jobs, jobs.”

On a swing through the district, he told The News-Dispatch and The Herald-Argus, “I won’t be happy until everyone who wants a job has a job.”

While health-care reform has received a lot of attention, he said, more important to him is creating jobs.

Health-care coverage usually comes with having a job, and to boost jobs, Donnelly favors tax credits for businesses buying equipment and hiring new employees.

As for health care, he said he couldn’t support the bill approved in the Senate since it contained things such as no restriction on using federal money for abortion — he is pro-life — and the “Nebraska” amendment, under which that state was to be given more money for Medicaid in exchange for Sen. Ben Nelson’s vote for the bill.

Health-care reform should have been approached as making two or three changes “to get the confidence of the American people,” then two or three changes the next year, Donnelly said. The first changes should be health-care insurance portability for people changing jobs, prohibiting insurers from barring coverage for those with pre-existing conditions and taking away the anti-trust exemption for insurance companies so companies that provide insurance for their employees can shop across state lines. The exemption has led Anthem to hold 60 percent of the Indiana market, he said. Also, a change is needed to remove the prohibition against negotiating prices for Medicare Part D coverage with drug companies, he said.

Donnelly, who serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee, supports the addition of VA clinics in Indiana communities to reduce the distance veterans must travel for health care.

In addition, he calls reduction of the deficit and independence from foreign energy sources “critical” to the country’s future.

How did the country get to a $12.3 trillion deficit?

“We fought two wars and funded neither,” he said, “and we gave a tax cut. What’s more, Medicare Part D was never properly funded.” Negotiating with the pharmaceutical houses for medications or reimporting medications from Canada could save $40 billion on the Part D tab, Donnelly said.

What about Social Security?

“There were people who wanted to privatize Social Security. We would have ruined everyone when the market tanked,” the 54-year-old Donnelly said.

He supported the jobs stimulus package, he said, precisely because he knows the working people of Indiana need jobs.

“I represent working people,” he said.

As for the loans to the banks, he said most of the loans have been repaid. The long-term financial effect likely will be “zero. We could make a little bit or lose a little bit.”

Like most Americans, Donnelly said he was repulsed by the huge bonuses some of the largest banks gave their top executives. The bonuses were granted after the loans were paid back, he noted.

“It’s free enterprise. There was nothing the government could do at that point,” he said.

Nonetheless, Donnelly found it repulsive.

“I met with Secretary (of the Treasury Tim) Geithner and asked him, ‘Didn’t those (bankers) know what a fire storm they would cause?’ He said, ‘They knew, but they didn’t care.’”

Not all the bankers who accepted the loan behaved so poorly, he said. Some community-based banks accepted the loans as “reserves,” he said.

All of the banks, including the big Wall Street institutions, should have used the money to make loans available to stimulate business, he said.

[Southsider2k12]

This keeps getting better and better... I wonder if the platform would involve little pink houses for you and me?

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/camp...or-from-indiana

John Mellencamp for senator from Indiana
By Brent Budowsky - 02/17/10 12:28 PM ET

I first heard the idea of John Cougar Mellencamp running for the Senate in Indiana when Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation advocated this on MSNBC, and I wholeheartedly agree. This is a truly inspired idea. John Mellencamp would make an outstanding and even brilliant United States senator and represents exactly the spirit and soul the Democratic Party should stand for.

This is not the time or place for me to critique Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.). I will say that when I first came to Washington I worked for his father, Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.), who I believe was one of the greatest senators who ever served. John Mellencamp is one of the great artists of our age. And John Mellemcamp is one of the great advocates of small-town America, of the kind of "square deal" for Americans that Teddy Roosevelt once championed. He is a voice for working people and a champion of farmers who puts his talent, his body and his money behind his words. Mellencamp has long been a great champion of the Farm Aid cause and concerts, along with the extraordinary leadership of his friend and a truly great American, Willie Nelson.

Indiana has many fine Democrats who would make good Senate candidates, but John Mellencamp is unique, one of a kind, a voice for the people who believes America needs a new brand of politics and new kind of leadership in the Senate.

I am not a Hoosier, but I have ties to the state going back to my years working with Birch Bayh. I believe John Mellencamp would electrify the campaign and electrify Democrats who want a fighter for working people, farmers, small businesses and small-town America to have a loud and clear voice in the Senate.

To those working to draft Mellencamp: You are fighting a good and worthy battle and I hope you succeed. America needs champions of justice and fairness and high principle in the Senate. John Mellencamp is exactly the kind of leader and voice our people need to lift the standards of our politics and the spirit of our nation.

[Tim]

I know zip about politics, but I think Evan Bayh's bailing on congress is a stinging indictment of the entire American political system. When one of congress's best and brightest quits because he can't get anything done due to fellow pols making decisions based on what will get them re-elected instead of what's best for the people that put them in office in the first place - which comes as no surprise - it's time to throw out the bathwater AND the baby.

[Mack]

John would be an IDEAL DEMOCRAT. If not him the other Democrat would be an EXCELLENT choice.
Either way , neither is a blue dog and the real ideological battle for the direction of the country can begin.
I personally think Indiana will become a VERY BLUE state in this election cycle.
Indiana is a good barometer.

[MCRogers1974]

I’m 100% with Tim. Many of these political clowns long forgot why they were elected to office. Partisan politics and personal agendas are not the reason they were put in office. A systematic and structured house cleaning is in order as well as strict term limits.

[lovethiscity]

I’m 100% with Tim. Many of these political clowns long forgot why they were elected to office. Partisan politics and personal agendas are not the reason they were put in office. A systematic and structured house cleaning is in order as well as strict term limits.

I have a feeling there is much more to all this. It may have to do with the address listed as his Indiana residence. If it is true that he has registered to vote and run for office, using a law office in Indy as his Primary residence. That not only brings up the question of where he lives, it is also against the law. Courts had in the past given special permision to Tony Zirkle during his bid for US Congress. Zirkle, listed his law office as his primary residence, but he was actualy living there.

[Southsider2k12]

I have a feeling there is much more to all this. It may have to do with the address listed as his Indiana residence. If it is true that he has registered to vote and run for office, using a law office in Indy as his Primary residence. That not only brings up the question of where he lives, it is also against the law. Courts had in the past given special permision to Tony Zirkle during his bid for US Congress. Zirkle, listed his law office as his primary residence, but he was actualy living there.

I know I posted the article, but at the same time it seems way too small. The Elder Bush's official residence was a hotel room in Houston while he was President.

[Ang]

I heard on the radio this morning that he is planning a run for Governor.

[Southsider2k12]

I heard on the radio this morning that he is planning a run for Governor.

He already served two terms, I might be wrong, but I don't think he can serve again.